Choices of the Heart
by ice princess07
Summary: Link must make a choice. His close friend, or the girl he thinks he loves. Only one can live. Eventual malink. Very eventual.
1. Chapter 1

_this story has been in my head for who knows how long and i finally managed to get it on paper. it takes place after ocarina of time. hope you enjoy!_

Chapter 1:

Link ran across the bridge that led from the Kokiri Forest to Hyrule Field. The sky glowed a beautiful pinkish orange over his head as the morning sun rose up over the horizon. When he had reached the Field he pulled out his ocarina and played Epona's Song on it. A few moments later, he heard the familiar sound of hoofbeats as a young mare galloped toward him, drawn by the notes of the song that was named after her.

"Hey, Epona," Link greeted the horse as she trotted up to him. He stroked the soft white mane that fell over her sleek auburn-colored neck. Epona nuzzled his shoulder affectionately. "Ok," Link said, mounting the horse. "Let's go!"

Epona broke off into a gallop. Link's heart sung with and his forest-green tunic. Today was the Princess of Hyrule's twelfth birthday, and he, Link, the simple forest boy, had been invited to the celebration! Of course, he was the Hero of Time, but since Zelda had sent him back to his child years, only he and the Seven Sages remembered. It was as if the battle with Ganondorf had never happened, which made Link feel a little forgotten. Not that he thought he should be exalted or anything, but he felt he should at least get a little recognition for all the work he had done.

Things had pretty much returned to normal in the Kokiri Forest. Saria was still his only friend and Kokiri still picked on him. Things had only gotten worse since the others realized he wasn't a Kokiri. He hadn't hit any growth spurts, but in the year and a half since Link had returned from Termina, he had grown a little. He now stood two or three inches over the tallest Kokiri, and it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't stay in the body of a ten-year-old forever.

Link sighed outwardly, thinking about how Mido had led his gang to beat up Link just a few days ago. Link might be nimbler than most kids his age, but he had still taken a few kicks and punches. Then he shook himself. Today was one of the greatest days of his life, and he was determined not to let anything ruin it. Besides, it wasn't as if all the Kokiri hated him. Only Mido and his buddies really didn't like him, and the others only ignored him because they were too scared of Mido. And the Sages still respected him as the Hero of Time. Plus, he now had friends outside of the Forest, like Zelda and Malon.

Speaking of Malon, Link noticed that he was now nearing Lon Lon Ranch. He knew Malon had probably gotten up earlier than he had today. She always got up around four o' clock in the morning to start her chores. Malon had chores that Link doubted even he could handle—like shoveling manure. Link had great respect for any girl who could do something like that.

All of a sudden, Epona veered off course and began heading for Lon Lon Ranch. "Whoa! Epona, what are you doing?" Link exclaimed, steering her back toward Hyrule Castle. The mare snorted in frustration and started off toward the Ranch again. "Come on, Epona. You can go see Malon after you take me to the castle, okay?" Link told her, once again steering her back in the right direction. This time Epona relented, but Link sensed that she was bit miffed, and he noticed that the rest of the ride was not quite so smooth as it had been before.

Finally, Link and Epona came to the entrance of Hyrule Castle, and Link drew in the reins and hopped down. He groaned in pain as soon as his legs hit the ground, and rubbed his thighs. He hadn't been this sore since the first time he had ridden a horse. Great. Just what he needed. He glared at Epona. The mare stared back with wide, innocent brown eyes. "Right, like you didn't do that on purpose," Link said. Epona snorted and shook her head, as if she was laughing at him. "Yeah, yeah. You can go see Malon now. Hope you're happy." Epona whinnied and stamped around a little before turning and trotting back to Lon Lon Ranch.

---

Malon hummed Saria's Song happily to herself. It was the song Link had taught her, and right now it matched her mood perfectly. Malon's long red hair hung down her back in a smooth braid, and her eyelashes were darkened with mascara. She wore soft, light blue pants that flared out and then tightened at the ankles, and a matching blue tank top that stopped right above her belly button and went into blue and purple beads that hung in tassels over he stomach.

The outfit was modeled after the clothing of the Gerudo Thieves, the female bandits who lived in the desert near Lon Lon Ranch. It was the latest hit in fashion amongst younger teenagers, and Malon thought it was appropriate for what she would be doing today. It had cost Malon most of her life's savings to buy the makeup and the clothes, and now she had only a few rupees left. She'd had to make the blue shoes herself, but she thought she did a pretty good job.

Malon swung her legs back and forth against the bottom of the bed. She felt a little silly getting all dressed up for archery lessons, but she couldn't resist trying to impress Link. She had a huge crush on him.

She gingerly picked up the bow that lay on the bed beside her. It had a rough make, and it wasn't very attractive, but to Malon it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. That was because Link had made it especially for her.

After Link had told her about the girl Romani who lived in Termina and was Malon's exact replica in appearance and personality, Malon had begged him to teach her archery. She was a little jealous, fearing that Link might like Romani better because she was a master archer, but Malon mainly wanted to learn because she liked the idea of being able to handle a bow herself.

Link had disappeared for about two months after Malon had begged him to teach her, and returned with the bow, apologizing that it was so poorly made. Malon had been too excited to care, and she had just about strangled him in a hug.

Malon giggled and blushed a little, remembering Link's slightly blue face after she had finally released him. She had nearly died of embarrassment at the time.

Malon jumped up and ran down the stairs. Her bond with Epona let her know that the horse was almost at the Ranch, which meant Link was almost there too. She stopped and glanced at her reflection in a pail of water, smoothing down her hair and making sure her mascara wasn't smeared, before hurrying outside just as Epona trotted in to the Ranch—rider-less.

Malon gasped and ran up to Epona. "Epona, where's Link? Did something happen to him?" she cried. Her heart beat fast in worry. She knew Epona had gone to Link. Epona never strayed too far from Malon unless she was going to Link. Had he been attacked by a monster? Was he hurt? But Epona wouldn't have left him if he was really in trouble. It had to be something else.

Malon's father, Talon, came out of the barn, yawning deeply. He rubbed his eyes. Malon was standing beside Epona, dressed in the outfit she had recently bought. He smiled and chuckled to himself. Young love. He remembered how it was. "Good morning, Malon!" he called cheerily. "Are you and Link going to the festivities in town today?"

Malon looked up at her father. Festivities? And then she knew where Link was. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and turned away so Talon wouldn't see them. "Uh, Link's not coming today," she said.

Talon was confused. "What do you mean? I thought he was supposed to give you archery lessons today?"

Malon forced out a laugh. "Um, that was a different day! I just wanted to try on my new outfit." She hurried back to the door. "Ill go change now and start on my chores."

Malon dashed up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her. She walked slowly to the bed and sat down. Of course. Today was Princess Zelda's birthday. Link had gone to see her. He had forgotten all about Malon.

Malon knew Link liked Zelda. She was all he talked about when he wasn't talking about his adventures. Malon also knew that Zelda was a better match for Link. After all, Zelda was one of only a few who actually remembered Link's adventure. Malon wished she could remember as well, but she only knew what Link had told her. But Zelda did remember, not to mention that she was the smart and beautiful Princess of Hyrule. But even knowing that, there was still a small flicker of hope in Malon's young heart that maybe one day Link might like her.

Malon pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her knees. She let the tears flow, not caring that the mascara was running down her cheeks and staining the pants she had spent so much on.

---

Link walked slowly through the heavily crowded streets of Hyrule Castletown. The town was always crowded, but today it was even more so than usual. People had come from all over Hyrule for the festivities that would be held, even some from the Zora, Goron, and Gerudo tribes could be seen wandering the streets. Of course, these festivities were for the common people, and would be held in the town later that afternoon. The celebration Link was going to would be held at the castle, and was invitation only.

Link moaned again. His legs were still killing him. He had to do something about this. He scanned the carts that lined the streets until he spotted what he was looking for. He headed over to the vendor and threw a few rupees on the counter. "One Red Potion," he said.

The vendor grabbed a Red Potion and handed it to Link, taking three of the rupees. Link smiled as he took the bottle and his rupees. As he had thought, the Potion was much cheaper than he would have gotten it at a shop, and it came with a bottle too. He pulled out the cork and gulped down half the Potion. The pain in his legs immediately subsided.

A loud bell chimed, making Link jump. That meant Zelda's celebration had begun. He was late! He quickly re-corked the bottle and stuffed it in his pocket. Running through the street, he nimbly dodged the people and animals in his way.

Link crashed into something so hard that he stumbled and fell back, and black spots started to dance across his eyes. Shaking his head to clear away the spots, Link looked at what he had run into. It was a boy, who had also fallen down and was looking a bit befuddled at what had caused him to fall down. The boy looked about fifteen, a few years older than Link. He had short blonde hair, several shades lighter than Link's, and light blue eyes that sparkled with laughter. He was dressed in a crème-colored silk shirt and dark blue leggings, giving Link the impression that he was probably wealthy.

The boy's eyes fell on Link, and a grin spread across the handsome features of his face. "Are you the one who ran into me?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Link replied, standing up and brushing himself off.

The boy followed suit and stood up as well. "No problem," he said. He held out his hand to Link. "My name is Rendall; you can call me Ren."

Link took Ren's hand hesitantly and shook it. "Uh, I'm Link."

"Nice to meet you Link," Ren said, shaking Link's hand vigorously before dropping it. "So where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Well, I'm late for Zelda's party and I want to get there as soon as possible," Link replied, then slapped himself mentally when he realized what he had said. What kind of an idiot would believe that he knew the Princess of Hyrule?

"Oh, you'd better hurry then," Ren said. "I've got to go too, so I'll see you around. Bye!"

Link blinked at Ren's back as he walked away. Was this guy stupid or was he just being nice? Link shrugged it off and continued on to the castle.

He flashed his invitation for the guards at the front gate, who knew Link well and weren't really surprised that he had been invited, and continued down the familiar path to the tall, white stone walls and turrets that were Hyrule Castle. He showed his invitation to the guards at the entrance, who nodded and allowed him to pass.

Link had been inside the castle enough times that he was starting to get used to it, but the sheer size still amazed him. A collection of paintings from all over the world hung on the walls, as well as rich embroideries and wall-hangings. He walked along the vast hallways, on his way to the courtyard.

The Sages had explained to the King almost immediately after Link's return everything that had happened. The King knew enough of the prophecies, so he had accepted what they had told him as the truth, even though he had no memories of it himself. It had been agreed that this knowledge would be kept from the people of all of Hyrule, since knowing seven years had been pretty much erased from their memories might cause some chaos. Since then though, Link had been allowed into the Castle whenever he chose, and the King told those who asked that he was an ambassador from the Kokiri Forest—which in a way he was.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking through the enormous castle, Link finally reached the courtyard where the party was to be held. It was already filled with people—mostly men and women who several years older than Link, and all dressed in very fine clothing. Tables were set up around the courtyard, covered with an assortment of rich and exotic foods, most of which Link had never seen in his life.

Link scanned the courtyard, looking for Zelda. People gave him strange looks, as if he were some thing that was below them and should not even be allowed in their presence. Link suddenly felt very out of place, and wished he had something other than simple green tunic to wear. He almost regretted not letting Epona take him to Lon Lon Ranch. He looked desperately for Zelda, and finally his eyes fell on a young girl standing by a window in the back of the courtyard. She was very pretty; her blonde hair was curled and held on top of her head with a large, dark pink bow that matched the long, pink ruffled dress she wore. A stiff smile was plastered on her face as she greeted the various guests that approached her.

Link hurried over to the girl, and as she caught sight of him her face brightened and the stiff smile changed to a real one. "Link!" she cried, running up to him. "I'm so glad you're here! I thought you weren't going to make it!"

Link rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry. I got kinda delayed," he apologized. He looked at her and blushed a little. "Um, you look really pretty."

Zelda made a face. "I hate this dress," she said. "I'm about to die of heat stroke. Come on, let's go inside! I know where we can go!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the castle. She led him through the corridors into a part of the castle Link had never been to before and into a room whose door was hidden in the shadows so that he would have overlooked it if Zelda had not stopped and turned the handle.

The room was dark and appeared nearly unused. It was not excessively unkempt, but it did not seem to be quite as clean as the other rooms in the castle Link had been in.

Zelda crossed to the other side of the room and pulled open the curtains that covered the single long, round-topped window in the room. Bright sunlight bathed the inside of the room, allowing Link to see what it looked like. It was smaller than most rooms in the castle. Judging by the number of books it was probably a miniature library of some sort. A bookshelf lined the wall to Link's left, and several books were scattered on and around the table that was set in front of the window.

Two chairs sat on either end of the table. Zelda sat down in the one on the left and grabbed one of the books. She curled her legs up in the chair and ran her fingers over the smooth gold lettering on the cover. "This is my favorite room," she told Link. "Nobody ever uses it, so I come here when I want to be alone. You can sit down." She nodded at the other chair.

Link, who had been standing, a little uncertain of what to do, gratefully sat down in the large, cushiony chair. "What books are those?" he asked. Most of the books looked like they were in the ancient language of Hyrule, which Link did not know.

"Oh, these are just some story books I like to read," Zelda told him. She paused and leafed through the pages of the book she was holding, then closed it. "Impa doesn't approve because most of them are about the princess getting rescued by the hero. She says 'a real princess should be able to take care of herself, not rely on some guy to save the day'." Zelda imitated Impa's deep voice, which made both children laugh. When they had stopped laughing, Zelda turned to Link with a smile on her face. "Sometimes I have to remind her that I was able to take care of myself for seven years." She winked. "I even helped the hero a little."

Link blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, yeah," he said.

Zelda suddenly jumped up and turned to Link. "We should go out to the town!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"Huh?" Link said. "Is that okay? Won't you get in trouble?"

Zelda dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand. "Nah. I sneak out all the time. It's no big deal." She ran to the door. "I just have to go change. Stay here. I'll be right back." She dashed through the door, leaving Link alone in the room.

Link picked up the book Zelda had been holding and flipped through it. As he had thought, all of the words were written in the ancient language, but there were some notes scribbled on the side in what Link recognized to be Zelda's own messy handwriting. He laughed as he read them. Most of the notes were recaps of pranks Zelda had managed to play on Impa, and some were even accompanied with doodles.

One of the scribbles caught Link's eye. Zelda had written hi name on the side of one of the pages. Little hearts had been drawn around it, and beneath it had been written 'Zelda hearts Link'. Link blushed and threw the book away from him. After that, he didn't look at any more books.

---

Malon sat up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. What was she thinking, sitting here crying and ruining her expensive new pants? So Link had stood her up for another girl. It happened to other girls all the time. It wasn't the end of the world.

She thought back to how many girls she had seen crying over some boy, and how ridiculous she had thought they were. Now here she was doing the exact same thing.

She stood up and went over to the water basin. It was time to stop feeling sorry for herself, she thought as she splashed the cool water on her face, washing off the smeared mascara. Stripping off the Gerudo-styled clothing, she changed into her usual white and blue dress, tying the red scarf around her neck with the pendant that had belonged to her mother. She took out the braid, letting the red waves fall once again around her shoulders, and changed from the blue shoes to her sturdy, brown boots.

She hurried out of her room and jumped from the top of the staircase to the floor. As she dashed outside, she noted that her father had not gone back to sleep. Good. She was going to need some help getting her chores done before sunset, and she didn't really feel like relying on Ingo. She made a face at the thought of asking that grump for help, and hurried off to find Talon, humming Epona's Song as she did.


	2. Chapter 2

_ok. i had to literally force myself to write this chapter. i never realized how much i dislike the zelink pairing. for those of you who dislike it as much as i do (or more so), i am very sorry. just bear with me. it's necessary for my story's plot. also. for those of you who like zelda, i am sorry. really i am. just please remember that no matter how good of a heart she may have, a princess has still been raised to believe she is better than everyone else. so even if she doesnt mean to, i think zelda might have some snobbish moments. so no flames...or else. MWA HA HA!!! ok on to the story._

Chapter 2:

Zelda shuffled through the dresses hanging in her wardrobe. Normally when she snuck out of the Castle she would just grab the simplest dress she could find and didn't really worry about how she looked, but since Link was going to be here she wanted to make sure she still looked nice. Finally she decided on a white dress with a pattern of yellow flowers and green leaves. Taking the large ping bow out of her hair, she grabbed a brush and fixed her hair so that the curls fell daintily around her shoulders, then tied a yellow headband into it. After another five minutes of primping, she decided that she looked alright and ran back down to the room where Link was waiting.

---

Link let out a long yawn and shifted impatiently in the chair. Glancing out the window, he checked the sun's position. It had been nearly an hour. What in Hyrule was Zelda doing? He let out a groan. He hated waiting.

He heard the door open and turned in the chair just as Zelda came in. Link almost groaned again in his relief. "Ready?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah," Link said. He stood up and stretched.

Zelda laughed. "Sleepyhead. It's only fifteen thirty. Only babies sleep at this time of day."

Link glanced at her, a little annoyed. She had taken almost an hour just to change clothes, and now she was mocking him for being tired. He shook himself. Now wasn't the time to get mad. "Come on, let's go," he said.

Zelda nodded and headed back for the door. "We can't use the courtyard entrance so we'll have to use the secret passage under the Castle," she told Link as they walked.

Link followed her back into the maze of corridors. "I didn't know there was a secret passage under the Castle."

"Well, duh. That's why it's a secret," Zelda retorted.

Link frowned at the back of Zelda's head. Why was she being like this today? She had never acted like this before. Or maybe she had and he'd just never noticed it.

Zelda stopped in front of a large painting of a forest at sunset with mountains in the background. Almost hidden within the mountains was the face of a girl with crimson hair that spread out into the red tinted sky. Staring at the painting, Link noticed that the girl looked very much like Malon, which he found a bit odd.

Zelda watched Link examining the painting with a look of curiosity on his face. "This was done by a famous artist," she whispered. "It's only a replica. Rumor has it that he keeps all the originals for himself. What's interesting about his paintings though, is that this girl always appears in them."

"What's his name?" Link asked in a hushed voice.

"No one knows. He only signs with his initials—LR." She pointed at the two small letters in the bottom right corner.

"Don't people see him when he brings them his work?"

Zelda shook her head. "All the merchants say that his paintings are always brought to them by a man wearing a cloak and hood. Nobody has ever seen his face."

"That's kinda weird," Link said.

Zelda shrugged. "I guess. But let's go before someone comes. One of the entrances is behind this painting." She quickly glanced around to make sure no one was near, then pulled at the left side of the frame, and sure enough the painting swung back to reveal a dark hole in the wall. Cold air blasted against their faces from the hole. Zelda hoisted up her skirt and swung one leg into the hole. "Hurry," she urged, before climbing the rest of the way inside.

Link followed Zelda's lead and climbed into the dark hole. Once he was in, Zelda grabbed a handle that was attached to the back side of the painting and pulled it shut. Pitch darkness enfolded around them. "I can't see a thing," Link commented.

"Oh, I've got it," Zelda's voice said beside him. A moment later, a ball of light appeared, illuminating Zelda's face and their surroundings.

They were standing at the top of a steep narrow staircase. The air around them felt old and damp, as if there were little or no circulation. The steps as well, were very old and many of them had started to crumble away. Link wondered for the first time just how old Hyrule Castle was.

"Let's go," Zelda said. The ball of light hovered above her head and she slowly began to descend the staircase. "Be careful," she warned. "I wouldn't trust these steps."

Link nodded his agreement and followed her down, carefully testing each stair before he stepped on it. He felt a little bit weird letting Zelda go first. After all, he was supposed to be the man here, and should therefore be first to go into danger, but the staircase was too narrow for him to go around her, so he kept on.

They walked for several minutes down the endless staircase. Link was starting to get bored. The excitement of the new and dangerous situation had faded, and now he just hoped it would end soon.

Suddenly, Zelda let out a cry as the stair beneath her crumbled into the black nothing below them and she started to fall. Link's instincts kicked in and he reached out and grabbed her hand just before she fell. The light had gone out when she lost her concentration on keeping it lit, and for a moment she hung suspended in the cold, unending darkness, held only by Link's hand.

Link heaved with all of his strength and managed to pull Zelda back onto the stairs, feeling with his feet and the cold air on either side as guidance to make sure he didn't pull her up, only to go tumbling into the abyss himself. They sat in silence in the dark, breathing heavily, for a few minutes before Zelda focused her magic once more into a ball of light and stood up. "That was scary," she said.

"Yeah," Link agreed. She started to hop across the gap. "Wait," he said. "Let me go first." Zelda rolled her eyes, but allowed him to go ahead of her. Let him play big, strong protector if he wanted to.

The stairs continued for another ten minutes or so before they came to the bottom. Link thought it was a lot of trouble just to sneak out of a castle, but he was enjoying the sense of adventure he hadn't felt since Termina, and he had the feeling Zelda felt the same way.

Finally the long stairway ended. Zelda felt along the wall at the bottom until she felt the lever she was looking for. She pulled it out, a door opened in the wall, leaking in sunlight and fresh air.

She and Link exited the passage into the field in front of the Castle. From there, they both knew what to do, and they quickly snuck back across the gate and into town.

The town was now filled with even more bustling people than before. Zelda squealed with delight, and started dragging Link around to all the different booths that had been set up.

Link flopped down in a chair, sighing with the relief of sitting down after more than an hour of Zelda dragging him all over Hyrule Castletown. "Isn't this great?" Zelda exclaimed, sitting down beside him.

Link stared at her in awe. Here he was about to die of exhaustion and she looked about to hop out of her seat and run a mile long race. She had amazing stamina. Well, it was nice to have a friend to do this sort of thing with. He smiled. "Yeah," he agreed.

Zelda stood back up. "Come on! Let's go play that game where you hit the ball back and forth with a paddle. What's it called again?"

"Ping pong," Link told her. He groaned inwardly. For some reason, Zelda had taken a liking to that game. She had already made Link play with her for the past half hour, and she was awful at it. Link was constantly having to let her win so she wouldn't get too upset. Having to play a game against a terrible opponent and a poor loser wasn't much fun. He looked around for something to distract her. "Hey, why don't we get ice cream instead?" he suggested, pointing to a vendor near them.

"Oh, yes!" Zelda said. She started running to the vendor and Link jogged after her.

His vision started to swim as he rammed straight into something. He stepped back, shaking his head and rubbing his nose. "Oww," he moaned.

Zelda grabbed his arm. "Link, are you okay?" she gasped.

"Oh, it's you again!" a familiar voice said.

Link looked up and almost fell backwards. Ren was standing in front of them, rubbing his shoulder where Link had run into him. He had a goofy grin on his face. Zelda also looked at Ren, and gasped when she saw who it was. "Ren!" she cried, throwing her arms around him.

"Hey, Zelda. It's been awhile," Ren said. "Happy birthday!" He returned the hug.

Link frowned. He was suddenly very annoyed. What was with this guy, appearing out of nowhere and hugging _his_ girlfriend? Not that Zelda was his girlfriend. Well, she had written that she liked him in that book and he liked her but that didn't mean they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Link felt his face growing hot. "Uh, you two know each other?" he said quickly, trying unsuccessfully to cover the embarrassment in his voice with annoyance.

Neither Ren nor Zelda seemed to notice Link's discomfort. "Of course we do," Zelda replied, letting go of Ren. "Link, this is Ren, my cousin, son of my father's late brother and Duke of Hyrule. Ren, this is Link. He's, um…"

"The ambassador from the Kokiri Forest you keep telling me about, right?" Ren filled in, shaking Link's hand for the second time. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, though we sort of already know each other."

Zelda's confusion showed clearly on her face. "What? How is that?" she asked. How was it that Ren, a noble of the royal family, knew someone like Link? Not that Link was below Ren or any of them, but despite all of her father's hype about him being an ambassador, he was still just a regular kid. No one really knew that he was actually the Hero of Time.

"Well, I was out running some errands earlier, and we sort of ran into each other," Ren explained.

"Oh. I see," Zelda said. "You…ran into each other. Well, Link and I were going to get some ice cream. Would you like to join us?"

Ren shook his head. "Sorry. I wish I could, but I'm still so busy with things. I hope you have a happy birthday, though. And I'll give you your present tomorrow." He smiled and waved before running off again. "See you later!"

In the meantime, Link had been pondering Zelda's reaction to his knowing Ren. Did she really find it so strange that he might actually have connections with the higher class other than those she brought? Sure, Ren might be a duke, but Link was the Hero of Time. That was a bit more important than some duke. If it hadn't been for him, Zelda wouldn't even be alive right now.

Link was pulled out of his thoughts by Zelda tugging on his sleeve. "Hurry up. Let's go get that ice cream," she said.

"Oh, right," Link said. He followed her as she ran up to the cart and pressed her face against the cold glass that covered the ice cream. "What flavor do you want?"

"There's so many," Zelda breathed. "I don't know how I can choose!"

"Do you want me to choose for you?" Link suggested.

Zelda smiled up at him. "Would you?"

Link nodded. "Can we get two chocolates in a cone?" he asked the vendor.

The vendor grabbed a scoop and put two huge scoops of chocolate ice cream onto two cones, then handed them to Link, who gave him the rupees. "Here," Link said, handing the biggest one to Zelda.

Zelda took the ice cream and licked it tentatively. Her eyes went wide. "It's delicious!" she exclaimed.

Link laughed. "Haven't you ever had ice cream before?"

"Not like this," Zelda replied, shaking her head. "We always have this hard, frozen stuff that tastes funny, but this is amazing."

She took a huge bite out of it. Link tried to stop her, but too late. She spat the ice cream out and doubled over, clutching her forehead and moaning in pain. "Be careful!" Link said. "You can't eat it too fast or you'll get a brain freeze. Are you okay?"

Zelda nodded, slowly straightening back up. "Yeah," she gasped. "I'll remember that."

Link glanced up at the sky. Red and orange streaks were starting to spread out through the clouds as the sun began to set. He smiled excitedly. Now would be the perfect time to give Zelda her gift! He fingered the small box that sat in his pocket. "Hey, let's go sit down," he suggested.

"Alright," Zelda said. She and Link sat down on the low stone wall that surrounded a flower bed set beside one of the buildings. Zelda watched the glowing sunset colors in the sky as she finished the last of her ice cream cone. "It's pretty."

Link nodded. He gulped nervously. All of a sudden he felt like his heart was stuck in his throat. "Um, uh, um," he struggled to speak. "I uh, I-I got you a present."

Zelda smiled at him sweetly. "You did?"

"Yeah," Link said. He pulled out the little box and handed it to Zelda. It was wrapped in pink flowery paper.

Zelda pulled off the paper, revealing a tiny, blue velvet jewelry box. She opened the box and gasped when she saw what was inside. "Oh, Link. They're beautiful!"

She lifted out one of the earrings that was in the box and held it up to the light. A round, pink stone dangled at the end of a short silver chain. The stone was filled with swirls of various shades of pink and seemed to glow with its own inner light. "They're made of Red Firestone mined in the mountains of Cardavan," Link explained.

"Cardavan?" Zelda repeated. "That far?"

Link rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. I bought them for a traveling merchant a couple of weeks ago."

Zelda took out the small gold balls she usually wore and replaced them with the Firestone earrings. She placed her hand on Link's. "Thank you, Link. They're beautiful." She kissed Link's cheek shyly then jerked her hand away from his and looked away, blushing.

Link looked down at his lap, resisting the urge to touch the tingling spot on his cheek where Zelda had kissed him. His face burned with a deep blush.

---

Malon roamed about Hyrule Castletown trying to find something to do. Her father had sent her to town to make a delivery, and insisted she stay and enjoy herself afterwards, even though she'd told him she didn't really want to. Normally this was one of the days she looked forward to every year, but this year it seemed to be only a painful reminder that Link did not like her.

She sighed and kicked a stone that was lying in the road. Ever since she had turned ten, she had been begging her father to let her make deliveries on her own. When she turned twelve three months ago, Talon had finally relent and started letting her make smaller deliveries to town. Right now, Malon wished he had never agreed.

She shook her head and reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to be letting this get to her. She glanced around at other kids around her age who were running around having fun. The least she could do was try to enjoy herself.

Malon smiled a little. Just thinking like this was already making her feel better. This wouldn't be so bad. She walked around, feeling somewhat happier, until she spotted a familiar green hat on top of a mussed blonde head.

She stopped in her tracks. What was Link doing here? She frowned at the girl with the flaxen ringlet handing about her shoulders that was sitting next to Link. Who was she? Wasn't Link supposed to be with Zelda?

Malon stepped back and moved behind a nearby building, peering around the corner at Link and the girl. The girl was holding a small glowing object over her head and looking up at it. She and Link exchanged a few words, and then the girl started messing around with her ears. She placed a slender white hand on Link's and said something, then kissed his cheek.

Malon's eyes narrowed. That did it. It was bad enough that Link had stood her up, but now he was standing Zelda up as well? She glanced at the ground and picked up a small pebble that was lying conveniently near her foot. She flung it with all her might at Link's head, then fled, not waiting to see if her aim had been true.

---

Link jumped as something whizzed past his ear. "What was that?"

Zelda looked at him curiously. "What was what?"

"That thing that just flew past my head," Link replied.

Zelda's eyebrows rose. "I didn't know something did fly past your head."

"Never mind," Link said.

Zelda broke the silence that followed. "How is Malon doing?" she asked.

"Huh? Why?"

Zelda shrugged. "Well, you usually talk about her non-stop, but you haven't even mentioned her today. Did you two have a fight?"

Link blinked at her. Did he really talk that much about Malon? "No," he replied, although for some reason he felt like he was lying. "She just didn't come up, I guess."

"Oh," Zelda said. She stood up. "We should probably go back. It's getting late and I'm sure Impa has realized I'm gone by now."

"Yeah, okay," Link agreed.


End file.
